CPU or GPU Upgrade?

[KineticMeercat]

Hi, I need help deciding which would be a better choice. A New motherboard in the £130-150 Price range,a 2500k or 2600k and a NZXT havik CPU Cooler. At the moment I have a AMD Phenom II 1035t 2.6Ghz

with an OEM 880g Motherboard, Or should I get a new GPU like a GTX 580, Another GTX 560 for SLi or an AMD 7950.

Space is not a problem I have an NZXT Phantom Case.

I think the GPU will most likely Bottleneck if I get a high GPU with my current CPU though. Help me!

Also will I need another copy of Windows 7 if I upgrade my CPU and Motherboard or can I use the Windows 7 install that came with my PC originally when I bought it?

UPDATE - So with all of your advice I decided to buy a:

I7 2600k OEM

Gigabyte UD3H Gen 3 (PCI-E 3 Version)

NZXT Havik Cooler (I Chose this because it will match the colour scheme of NZXT Phantom).

I Am going to overclock the CPU To 4.2Ghz+ aswell. thanks for your help guys

 

[Tindo]

another 560 i I would go, 560's in Sli are faster than the 580, don't know about the 7950. Also Overclock that CPU, unless u upgrade to intel sandy bridge or above, I think the 7950 would be overkill for your current Hardware (ie bottlenecks)

Hi, I need help deciding which would be a better choice. A New motherboard in the £130-150 Price range,a 2500k or 2600k and a NZXT hawk CPU Cooler. At the moment I have a AMD Phenom II 1035t with an OEM 880g Motherboard, Or should I get a new GPU like a GTX 580, Another GTX 560 for SLi or an AMD 7950.

I think the GPU will most likely Bottleneck if I get a high GPU though. Help me!

 

[KineticMeercat]

another 560 i I would go, 560's in Sli are faster than the 580, don't know about the 7950. Also Overclock that CPU, unless u upgrade to intel sandy bridge or above, I think the 7950 would be overkill for your current Hardware (ie bottlenecks)

I don't think you can Overclock the 1035t even though it should have a unlocked multiplier

 

[S_I_N]

cheapest route would be to first upgrade ur mobo to at minimum 890FX chipset if not 990FX if you plan on changing to intel then dont bother with the AMD stuff just get a good SB board and 2500K if just gaming or 2600K if gaming Plus then later down the road cross the gpu side again with either another 560Ti (prices should be better later) or current Nvidia offerings

besides i doubt your 880 will sli Nvidia cards

 

[kilobravo]

Gigabyte z68xp-ud3p and a 2500k oc´ed to 4.5ghz will give your gtx560 new life.And a decent cpu-cooler like nzxt havik,phanteks or noctua nh-d14.

 

[sleepylilazn]

Hi, I need help deciding which would be a better choice. A New motherboard in the £130-150 Price range,a 2500k or 2600k and a NZXT hawk CPU Cooler. At the moment I have a AMD Phenom II 1035t 2.6Ghz

with an OEM 880g Motherboard, Or should I get a new GPU like a GTX 580, Another GTX 560 for SLi or an AMD 7950.

I think the GPU will most likely Bottleneck if I get a high GPU though. Help me!

Also will I need another copy of Windows 7 if I upgrade my CPU and Motherboard or can I use the Windows 7 install that came with my PC originally when I bought it?

1. In short, let's not use the word "bottleneck" when it's not relevant. I'm 99.99% sure you won't have one.

2. What do you use your system for?

3. I believe you do have to get a new copy of windows 7 or contact Microsoft or something. I'm not 100% sure you need to buy a new copy, but I've heard story of people needing to.

 

[KineticMeercat]

1. In short, let's not use the word "bottleneck" when it's not relevant. I'm 99.99% sure you won't have one.

2. What do you use your system for?

3. I believe you do have to get a new copy of windows 7 or contact Microsoft or something. I'm not 100% sure you need to buy a new copy, but I've heard story of people needing to.

With my current CPU in certain games I get very low GPU usage in certain games such as Skyrim, the ARMA games, Saints row the third and others. I guess that may be a bottleneck?

I use my Rig mainly for gaming

 

[S_I_N]

if windows doesnt reactivate when you re-install its a simple matter of calling M$ to get it done. No talking to real ppl just an automated service. Important part to remember is when it asks how many computers you have this copy on you answer one( unless you have a multi license copy) and make sure its only on one.

The AMD platform will still game just fine. If your looking at staying AMD upgrade your mobo first. Then you'll be able to OC your CPU properly, and achieve smoother game play at better fps. The 560Ti is a decent card. If you want to sli it later you will need to get a 990FX chipset.

However if your planning the leap to Intel get a good Z68 mobo a 2500k and upgrade to a single faster card. But this is the more costly approach as your replacing all 3.

 

[sleepylilazn]

if windows doesnt reactivate when you re-install its a simple matter of calling M$ to get it done. No talking to real ppl just an automated service. Important part to remember is when it asks how many computers you have this copy on you answer one( unless you have a multi license copy) and make sure its only on one.

The AMD platform will still game just fine. If your looking at staying AMD upgrade your mobo first. Then you'll be able to OC your CPU properly, and achieve smoother game play at better fps. The 560Ti is a decent card. If you want to sli it later you will need to get a 990FX chipset.

However if your planning the leap to Intel get a good Z68 mobo a 2500k and upgrade to a single faster card. But this is the more costly approach as your replacing all 3.

This. Good stuff. Now I can use my brain less. =]

 

[Lovehang]

another 560 i I would go, 560's in Sli are faster than the 580, don't know about the 7950. Also Overclock that CPU

 

[ruthless_villain]

another 560 i I would go, 560's in Sli are faster than the 580, don't know about the 7950. Also Overclock that CPU

two 560s in sli are poor unless your gaming on some crappy resolution

 

[demonking]

i second ruthless on that one.

i currently have 2 560ti's and im thinking of getting rid of one as the performance gain was hardly worth an extra £20 let alone the £160 i paid.

as with windows 7... when i upgraded my motherboard all it asked me to do was validate my product key worked fine ever since.

I'm also sure u could overclock that processor, just depends on your mobo.

 

[Socks]

Moved to correct area

 

[MaXiMiZe]

I'd go the new mobo + cpu direction assuming you have the funds

 

[marsey99]

best bang for your buck would be gpu imo, but then you would become cpu limited but lets be honest a faster cpu doesnt push a gpu that much more as the gpu is still going to have its own limits.

 

[LiamTheBoss]

i would get a new gpu becuase its the only piece of hardware (apart from a ssd) that you see a real change in.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

A locked hex is pretty useless for anything non-professional grade. 2500k as said is good for you and just the cheapest board with the most CPU power phases you can find. CPU needs to be fast up to a point and the 2500k is bang on that point. If you can overclock your 1035t even on BUS alone, 250x13 lands you 3.25Ghz, but I can tell you now you would need 3.8Ghz on a Thuban to play Crysis 2 or BF3 etc smooth as noticably possible. 2.6Ghz NB will help too. But Thuban is aging now and you should go for a 2500k.

i would get a new gpu becuase its the only piece of hardware (apart from a ssd) that you see a real change in.

Wrong, a good OCing board with it's chipsets maxed out and low latency RAM make quite a considerable difference to a human eye by reducing latencies/ frame times rather than just cranking out more fps alone. 40fps @low latency looks better than 60fps stuttering.